Club hosts successful Congress

TOOWOOMBA Bridge Club hosted another very successful bridge 'congress', the Queen's Birthday Pairs and Teams over the weekend September 30 to October 2.

It was the fifty-eighth year the event has been held - in 1960 Toowoomba was the host for Australia's first bridge 'congress' format of events that is so popular in Australia today.

More than 120 players converged on the club each day to vet their skills.

Part of the enjoyment of bridge comes not only from the mental stimulation, but also comes from meeting new people and making new friends.

Throughout the whole tournament participants also enjoyed an endless supply of food provided by generous club members.

On Saturday, after 11 matches, the Swiss Pairs Competition was won by Tim Runting and Patrick Bugler from Brisbane, and a tremendous effort from the local pair, Trevor Henderson and Carmel Caton who finished sixth out of sixty-two pairs after being seeded fifty-fourth.

Many of the Saturday players returned to play in a Teams Event over the following two days.

This consisted of eight matches of 14 hands each.

The eventual winners of the Hiley-McCutcheon Shield were Ewa Kowalczyk, Gheorghi Belonogov, Tim Runting and Patrick Bugler from Brisbane.

The Toowoomba team of Henry Eastment, Adrian Mayers, Will Higgins and John Erlandson finished a gallant second.